Janet Y. Spears

Chief Executive Officer
Metta Fund
MSEE 1988

Janet Y. Spears earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1988. She is an executive leader with significant accomplishments in the philanthropy, nonprofit, and information technology sectors. Spears currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Metta Fund, a private foundation dedicated to advancing the health and wellness of San Francisco’s aging population. Under her leadership, Metta Fund has pursued an audacious vision of an inclusive, connected, multi-generational, healthy, and thriving San Francisco. Spears has established new organizational priorities with an equity focus, and spearheaded innovative opportunities for collaboration in service of the health and wellness of the community,

Spears has extensive experience across functions and has significantly improved operations and growth in both the public and private sector. An engineer by training, she enjoyed a 23-year career at AT&T, where her tenure had her traverse research and development as a Member of Technical Staff through leading complex sales solutions as Sales Vice President. Spears leveraged her technical skills in closing over $100MM of new revenue to large multi-national businesses. In the public sector, she oversaw development, grantmaking, communications, and donor services, and guided a $400MM philanthropic institution to a programmatically strong and financially healthy position as the chief operation officer.  

Spears has expansive volunteer board service and since 2015 has served as a Regent of the University of the Pacific (UOP). There she is the Board Treasurer and has served as Chair of the Academics and Student Affairs Committee, Audit committee, Board Secretary and Vice-Chair Committee on Regents.  Spears was appointed to the San Francisco Disability and Aging Services Commission in 2019 and also serves on the boards of Northern California Grantmakers, and the Giants Community Fund.

In addition to her MSEE from Purdue, Spears holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Pacific, where she was named distinguished alumna in 2012. She also earned an Advanced Management Certificate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Spears is a California native and resides in San Francisco with her life partner, Rae Marie.